After a competitive tender process, Auckland Council said it has appointed a consortia led by Hewlett-Packard to assist in a programme to standardise its desktop computing systems.

Council engaged the HP-led consortia, consisting of HP, Dimension Data and Microsoft, as part of a wider programme of work to continue to unify its core systems and business processes. This wider programme of work will make council more efficient, saving ratepayers $50.1 million over the next 10s. This desktop project will have some upfront costs, but contribute $22.3 million to the next $50.1 million of savings.

A little over two years ago, Auckland Council was formed out of the amalgamation of eight councils and their business units. This also necessitated the bringing together of eight different technologies, all of which were built and managed in different ways.

A comprehensive, single standard desktop environment is now required to provide the most efficient support for staff and to better serve Aucklanders, as promised through the Auckland Plan and Long-term Plan.

“The desktop is a vital business tool for all in council and is used right across the organisation to enable basic business processes. Librarians use it to access their book catalogues, resource consents staff use the desktop to track applications and all those who answer Aucklanders questions at service centres rely on it,” said Ian Maxwell, Auckland Council’s acting Chief Operating Officer.

“The new platform we will implement will be cheaper to operate, saving ratepayers’ money, while also being simpler and faster for our staff to use – giving Aucklanders the high-quality level of service they deserve from a modern council.”